The conventional method of fastening elements as for example buttons, hooks, eyes and the like to cloth or possibly plastic foil by sewing has many obvious drawbacks. Thus, the sewing operation is comparatively complicated and requires in modern serial manufacturing production almost unacceptably long working time. Also when sewing by hand, the fastening of buttons is a tedious and time consuming question. Many attempts have also been made to find ways of fastening buttons and similar elements other than by a sewing operation. Accordingly, it is known to make the button or the other element in two parts, which are joined by means of a stem extending through the cloth. A button of this kind is disclosed for example in U.S. Pat. No. 3,360,835.
However, in connection with buttons of this kind it is shown that it is difficult to obtain a rational and simple working process because of the difficulties of positioning the two parts of the button in the right position relative to each other on the two sides of the cloth. The means holding the two parts together also results in a drawback resulting in an expensive manufacturing cost and a limitation with respect to size and design. Buttons and objects of this known type therefore have only a limited application in the garment industry and only in connection with heavy garments such as work clothes.
In order to obtain a simpler and smaller button, it has as an alternative been suggested to design a button of plastic material provided with a stem, which is made to perforate the cloth and thereafter is deformed to a head. See for example the Swiss Pat. No. 411,427 or the British Pat. No. 1,229,119. As a method of deforming the stem, deformation by means of heat and mechanical pressure respectively has been suggested. However, when resorting to these methods of deformation, certain difficulties arise. Thus, in connection with deformation by heat there is a risk of overheating and consequently melting or transformation of the plastic material, so that ruptures will result. When plastics melt there is moreover the risk that it will adhere to the deformation tool, and the head, which was supposed to be deformed, will not be completely formed. A mechanical deformation can cause the plastic material to be crushed so that the rivet head will be incomplete. It is also known that the "memory" of the plastics can result in the plastics part at least partially reverting to its original shape after some time.
Most garments are provided with a number of buttons, which are arranged in predetermined portions by way of example in connection with shirts, the buttons are arranged in a long row, and are intended to be buttoned up with a portion of the garment piece provided with button holes correspondingly arranged. In this connection the expression button holes does not comprise slits made in the cloth material only, but also for example eyes or loops protruding at a border, which sometimes are used.
Such a buttoning arrangement because of the work involved represents a considerable part of the price of the garment piece. The required work in addition to the button holes includes the fastening of the buttons in predetermined positions in a predetermined formation and the buttoning up of the garment piece, since articles of garment usually are delivered in buttoned up condition.